Atty. Marcelino A Pineda Jr

OPEN TODAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023, until 2:30PM

CONJUGAL PROPERTY

CONJUGAL PROPERTY UNDER ABSOLUTE PROPERTY REGIME

Unless otherwise provided in this Chapter or in the marriage settlements, the community property shall consist of all the property owned by the spouses at the time of the celebration of the marriage or acquired thereafter. (Article 91 of the Family Code of the Philippines)

EXCEPT (NOT PART OF CONJUGAL PROPERTY)

The following shall be excluded from the community property:
(1) Property acquired during the marriage by gratuitous title by either spouse, and the fruits as well as the income thereof, if any, unless it is expressly provided by the donor, testator or grantor that they shall form part of the community property;
(2) Property for personal and exclusive use of either spouse. However, jewelry shall form part of the community property;
(3) Property acquired before the marriage by either spouse who has legitimate descendants by a former marriage, and the fruits as well as the income, if any, of such property. (Art. 92 of the Family Code of the Philippines)

PROPERTY ACQUIRED DURING MARRIAGE IS PRESUMED TO BELONG TO BE CONJUGAL PRPERTY

Property acquired during the marriage is presumed to belong to the community, unless it is proved that it is one of those excluded therefrom. (Art. 93 of the Family Code of the Philippines)

LIBEL

Under our law, criminal libel is defined as a public and malicious imputation of a crime or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead. For an imputation to be libelous under Art. 353 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), the following requisites must be present: (a) it must be defamatory; (b) it must be malicious; (c) it must be given publicity; and (d) the victim must be identifiable.

An allegation is considered defamatory if it ascribes to a person the commission of a crime, the possession of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status or circumstance which tends to dishonor or discredit or put him in contempt, or which tends to blacken the memory of one who is dead. In determining whether a statement is defamatory, the words used are to be construed in their entirety and should be taken in their plain, natural, and ordinary meaning as they would naturally be understood by persons reading them, unless it appears that they were used and understood in another sense. Moreover, a charge is sufficient if the words are calculated to induce the hearers to suppose and understand that the person or persons against whom they were uttered were guilty of certain offenses or are sufficient to impeach the honesty, virtue or reputation or to hold the person or persons up to public ridicule.

Malice connotes ill will or spite and speaks not in response to duty but merely to injure the reputation of the person defamed, and implies an intention to do ulterior and unjustifiable harm. Malice is bad faith or bad motive. It is the essence of the crime of libel. (Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp. and Ruther Batuigas vs. Victor A. Domingo and the People of the Philippines, G.R. No. 170341, July 5, 2017)

RIGHT OF AN EMPLOYEE TO SEPARATION PAY

PAYMENT OF SEPARATION PAY. Separation pay shall be paid by the employer to an employee terminated due to installation of labor-saving devices, redundancy, retrenchment, closure or cessation of operation due to serious business losses or financial reverses, and disease.

An employee terminated due to installation of labor-saving devices or redundancy shall be paid by the employer a separation pay equivalent to at least one (1) month pay or at least one (1) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher, fraction of six (6) months service is considered as one (1) whole year of service.

An employee terminated due to retrenchment shall be paid by the employer a separation pay equivalent to one (1) month pay or at least one-half (1/2) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher, fraction of six (6) months service is considered as one (1) whole year of service.

An employee terminated due to closure or cessation of business not due to serious business losses shall be paid by the employer a separation pay equivalent to one (1) month pay or at least one-half (1/2) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher, fraction of six (6) months service is considered as one (1) whole year of service. Where closure is due to serious business losses or financial reverses, no separation pay is required.

An employee terminated due to disease shall be paid by the employer a separation pay equivalent to at least one (1) month pay or at least one-half (1/2) month pay for every year of service, whichever is higher, fraction of six (6) months service is considered as one (1) whole year of service.

An employee whose employment is terminated by reason for just cause is not entitled to separation pay except as expressly provided for in the company policy or Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA)

Source : DOLE DO 147-15

RA No. 9262 covers a situation where the mother committed violent and abusive acts against her own child.

Section 3 (a) of RA 9262 defines violence against women and their children as "any act or a series of acts committed by any person against a woman who is his wife, former wife, or against a woman with whom the person has or had a s*xual or dating relationship, or with whom he has a common child, or against her child whether legitimate or illegitimate, within or without the family abode, which result in or is likely to result in physical, s*xual, psychological harm or suffering, or economic abuse including threats of such acts, battery, assault, coercion, harassment or arbitrary deprivation of liberty." The law criminalizes acts of violence against women and their children perpetrated by women's intimate partners, i.e., husband; former husband; or any person who has or had s*xual or dating relationship with the woman, or with whom the woman has a common child. However, the Court in Garcia emphasized that the law does not single out the husband or father as the culprit. The statute used the gender-neutral word "person" as the offender which embraces any person of either s*x. The offender may also include other persons who conspired to commit the violence, thus:

As defined above, VAWC may likewise be committed "against a woman with whom the person has or had a s*xual or dating relationship." Clearly, the use of the gender-neutral word "person" who has or had a s*xual or dating relationship with the woman encompasses even le***an relationships. Moreover, while the law provides that the offender be related or connected to the victim by marriage, former marriage, or a s*xual or dating relationship, it does not preclude the application of the principle of conspiracy under the Revised Penal Code (RPC). Thus, in the case of Go-Tan v. Spouses Tan [588 Phil. 532 (2008)], the parents-in-law of Sharica Mari L. Go-Tan, the victim, were held to be proper respondents in the case filed by the latter upon the allegation that they and their son (Go-Tan's husband) had community of design and purpose in tormenting her by giving her insufficient financial support; harassing and pressuring her to be ejected from the family home; and in repeatedly abusing her verbally, emotionally, mentally and physically.[38] (Emphases supplied)

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Logically, a mother who maltreated her child resulting in physical, s*xual, or psychological violence defined and penalized under RA No. 9262 is not absolved from criminal liability notwithstanding that the measure is intended to protect both women and their children. In this case, however, the RTC dismissed Randy's petition for protection orders on behalf of his minor daughter on the ground that the mother cannot be considered as an offender under the law. To restate, the policy of RA No. 9262 is to guarantee full respect for human rights. Towards this end, the State shall exert efforts to address violence committed against children in keeping with the fundamental freedoms guaranteed under the Constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and other international human rights instruments of which the Philippines is a party. (RANDY MICHAEL KNUTSON, ACTING ON BEHALF OF MINOR RHUBY SIBAL KNUTSON, PETITIONER, VS. HON. ELISA R. SARMIENTO-FLORES, IN HER CAPACITY AS ACTING PRESIDING JUDGE OF BRANCH 69, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, TAGUIG CITY, AND ROSALINA SIBAL KNUTSON, RESPONDENTS, G.R. No. 239215. July 12, 2022)

Article 1956 of the New Civil Code provides:

No interest shall be due unless it has been expressly stipulated in writing.

Article 1159 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines provides:

Obligations arising from contracts have the force of law between the contracting parties and should be complied with in good faith.